Buchanan an advocate of law requiring greater disclosure in Congress

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan strongly advocated for a new law to increase disclosure of Congress members' financial transactions, and now that the law is in effect, he is among the lawmakers it has affected most.

The Longboat Key Republican congressman has filed five special new disclosure reports, identifying up to $2.5 million in personal financial transactions since last July — more filings than any House member from Florida and more than all but six other members of Congress nationwide, according to U.S. House records.

The records show Buchanan's biggest trades came a week before the presidential election last November when he reported as much as $380,000 from the sale of energy stocks, including those of oil and gas pipeline companies.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan

Buchanan is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has wide jurisdiction over all U.S. tax policies, including those related to energy companies.

His office said the transactions specifically are handled by Buchanan's personal financial manager.

A spokesman said Buchanan is complying with the law by disclosing all that is required in the new periodic transaction reports.

While the law has resulted in more paperwork for Buchanan, he said he supports the requirement for more transparency in Congress members' financial transactions under the so-called STOCK Act to discourage potential insider trading.

"No elected or government official should be profiting from private information obtained because of their job," Buchanan has said of the law.

The STOCK Act

The law requires lawmakers to disclose major financial transactions within 45 days. Before the STOCK Act, lawmakers reported such transactions with their financial disclosures, which are due each May. As a result, some transactions could go unreported for more than a year.

Lisa Rosenberg, a government affairs consultant for the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group in Washington that has pushed for more financial disclosure for members of Congress, said the new law helps the public review financial transactions in the context of legislation that lawmakers are considering, closer to the time they are debating it.

In late 2011, CBS's "60 Minutes" reported that members of Congress, including House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, may have benefitted from inside information.

Boehner traded health care stocks during the national debate on health care and Pelosi traded financial stocks while Congress was crafting legislation to crack down on credit card companies.

Both denied trading on inside information.

"The reason behind the STOCK Act was to ferret out conflicts of interest and potential insider trading," Rosenberg said.

Still, while the reports are more timely, they have limited value. The documents are hard to search online and give little indication as to why trades were made or whether they were related to legislation before Congress.

Also, members of Congress report their trades in wide ranges. For instance, when Buchanan sold seven energy company stocks last Sept. 19, he reported each stock's value as being between $15,000 and $50,000. The seven stocks could have generated as little as $105,000 combined or as much as $350,000.

Wealthy file the most

The most frequent filers are among the wealthiest members of Congress, according to financial disclosure reports.

Buchanan, Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, and Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, are among the six who have filed the most "period transaction reports." They are also listed among the five wealthiest members of the U.S. House by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication.

Members of Congress report a variety of financial transactions. Dozens of members have reported buying and selling stocks in America's biggest companies, including Walmart, Apple and Proctor & Gamble. Others reported heavy trading in municipal bonds.

Members also are required to report large transactions beyond the sale of stocks and bonds. For instance, California Democrat John Garamendi reported selling three bulls at market for as much at $15,000.

The most frequent report filer has been U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, who filed 10 periodic transaction reports in 2012. Gutierrez, whose reports include thousands of dollars in transactions with government bonds, reported as much as $3.2 million in financial transactions.

The only other members of Congress who filed more transaction reports than Buchanan were Polis, Renacci, Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., now former Rep. David Drier, R-Calif., and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.

Only one other member of Congress from Florida filed any transaction reports last year. Former U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, filed one report that tallied as much as $700,000 in transactions.

Rosenberg said she sees the new reporting as a first step in making members of Congress more transparent.

"This sets the stage for more disclosures in the future," Rosenberg said.

Jeremy Wallace can be reached at 361-4966 or jeremy.wallace @heraldtribune.com.

Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years.
He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966.
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Last modified: February 4, 2013
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